When Paul Schneider was 2 years old, a medical specialist said that he would never walk or have understandable speech because of brain damage that occurred at birth.

Paul proved the experts wrong. He not only learned to walk, but he also earned a college degree and spoke to audiences more than 300 times.

Closest to Paul's heart, though, was his love for Christ, the One who saved him from his sins and gave him the courage to persevere against enormous odds. And it was his hope in Christ that inspired the phrase he used to describe his cerebral palsy: "Lifelong but temporary."

Paul Schneider's outlook was rooted in 1 Corinthians 15. Because Jesus conquered sin and death and rose from the grave, He promises a new "spiritual body" to all who trust Him. This body will be free from all the imperfections of our current existence. It will be a transformed body, having abilities beyond anything we now know (Phil. 3:21).

In 1995 Paul Schneider entered the presence of Christ, finally free from his cerebral palsy. All Christians have the promise of receiving a new body at the resurrection. We may have a lifelong limitation that is physical, mental, emotional, or all three, but it is still only temporary.  — Dennis J. De Haan